I am the 1%!

No, no, I’m not talking about the Occupy movement. I am certainly one of the 99% there.

I recently made the decision to purchase the box set one of my favourite TV shows of last year. Hart of Dixie is a great little story about a city girl trying to make it in the country. That’s what it boils down to, but it was one of the finest television dramas I’ve seen in a while! And with all great dramas, there tends to be a few things the characters learn along the way.

And if you’re not careful, you might learn a thing or two with them!

So what is this “I am the 1%” malarky? Well, there is one particular episode where the lead character explains that 99% of people cheat, but what that really means is that everybody cheats… “the people that you love and trust cheat… there is no 1%, that is just the statistical margin of error.”

I found myself thinking “whoa now, what a terribly pessimistic view of the world”. But then when I actually reflected on this, when I thought long and hard about Zoe Hart’s allegations, I found myself realising that she was right. The people you love and trust do cheat. They forget your birthday, they don’t reply to your texts, they don’t call when they say they will, they don’t keep your secrets, they say horrible things… is she right? That there is no 1% and I’m a moron for holding out and believing in the 1%?

Come on… I know you all want to believe that there’s a 1%, and you really want to believe that you belong in that margin, not in the 99% who let you down and ultimately cheat you. But can you honestly say you’ve never let a friend down? Never turned your back on someone who needed you? Never forgotten to text someone back (even though you did think about it)? I’m starting to be convinced by Zoe’s argument.

But then her best friend Lavon comes back with “You know what? Yeah, maybe 99 out of 100 people will disappoint you. But I don’t know, I think you find the magic of the world in the margin of error.”

1% is a small number. You hear things like “it’s one in a million” all the time. But do we really appreciate just how special it is when it actually happens? That 1% is extraordinary. Sure, we’ve all been part of the 99% every now and then… There wouldn’t be a 99% if we weren’t. But it’s about being honest with yourself, and looking at the 1% who you know and saying “you know what? I’m damn lucky to have you in my life.”

Because they might forget your birthday, but they might just surprise you with something amazing. They might not always reply to your texts, but when they do, it makes it all the more surprising. They might not call when they said, but you know they’re good for a chat later. And the secrets they don’t keep, tend to be the trivial ones that no one cares about anyway. And those horrible things they say, they’re usually the things no one else has the balls to say to you.

That 1% is pretty special, and I really hope I am the 1% in someone’s life!